Pakistan child activist has 70% survival chance

This photograph released by Pakistan's Inter Services Public Relations (ISPR) office on Oct 9, 2012, shows Pakistani army doctors giving treatment to injured Malala Yousafzai, 14, at an army hospital following an attack by gunmen in Peshawar on Oct 9, 2012. -- PHOTO: AFP

PESHAWAR (AFP) - A Pakistani child activist shot in the head by the Taleban has improved but remains in intensive care with a 70 per cent chance of survival, doctors said Thursday as they canvas expert advice abroad.

The shooting of 14-year-old Malala Yousafzai on a school bus in the Swat valley has been denounced worldwide and by the Pakistani authorities, who have offered a reward of more than US$100,000 (S$124,000) for the capture of her attackers.

Two of her school friends were also injured in the attack, which was carried out as retribution for Malala's campaign for the right to an education during a two-year Taleban insurgency in the region.

There are mounting questions about how the attack could have happened and how the perpetrators simply walked away in an area with a visible police and army presence.